Purpose: Human papilloma virus (HPV) associated head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) has a better prognosis than HPV(-) negative cancer. This may be due, in part, to the higher number of tumour infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) in HPV(+) tumours. We used RNAseq to evaluate whether these differences in clinical behaviour could be explained simply by a numerical difference in TILs or whether there was a fundamental difference between TILs in these two settings. Patients and methods: Twenty-three consecutive HNSCC cases with high and moderate TIL density were subjected to RNAseq analysis. Differentially expressed genes (DEG) between 10 HPV(+) and 13 HPV(-) tumours were identified with EdgeR. Immune subset analysis was performed using, FAIME (Functional Analysis of Individual Microarray Expression) and Immune gene transcript count analysis. Results: 1634 genes were differentially expressed. There was a dominant immune signature in HPV(+) tumours. After normalizing expression profiles for numerical differences in T cells and B cells, 437 significantly DEGs still remained. A B-cell associated signature emerged, which segregated HPV(+) from HPV(-) cancers and included CD200, STAG3, GGA2, SPIB and ADAM28. Differential expression of these genes was confirmed by real-time quantitative PCR and immunohistochemistry. Conclusion: In our dataset, the difference associated with T-cells between patients with HPV(+) and (-) HNSCC was predominantly numerical. However, when TIL numbers are corrected, a distinct differential B-cell signature was revealed. Overall design: mRNA profiles of 10 HPV driven (HPV+) and 13 HPV independant (HPV-) head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) tumours were generated by RNA-Seq, using Illumina HiSeq 2000.
HPV, tumour metabolism and novel target identification in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesHigh numbers of tissue-resident memory T (TRM) cells have been associated with better clinical outcomes in cancer patients. However, the molecular characteristics that drive their efficient immune response to tumors are poorly understood. Here, using single-cell and bulk transcriptomic analysis of purified populations of TRM and non-TRM cells we characterise these populations Overall design: Population and single cell profiling of subtypes of CD8 cells isolated from human lung and lung tumour samples with flow cytometry
Single-cell transcriptomic analysis of tissue-resident memory T cells in human lung cancer.
Specimen part, Subject
View SamplesNebulin is a giant filamentous protein that is coextensive with the actin filaments of the skeletal muscle sarcomere. Nebulin mutations are the main cause of nemaline myopathy (NEM), with typical NEM adult patients having low expression of nebulin, yet the roles of nebulin in adult muscle remain poorly understood. To establish nebulins functional roles in adult muscle we performed studies on a novel conditional nebulin KO (Neb cKO) mouse model in which nebulin deletion was driven by the muscle creatine kinase (MCK) promotor. Neb cKO mice are born with high nebulin levels in their skeletal muscle but within weeks after birth nebulin expression rapidly falls to barely detectable levels Surprisingly, a large fraction of the mice survives to adulthood with low nebulin levels (<5% of control), contain nemaline rods, and undergo fiber-type switching towards oxidative types. These microarrays investigate the changes in gene expression when nebulin is deficient.
Nebulin deficiency in adult muscle causes sarcomere defects and muscle-type-dependent changes in trophicity: novel insights in nemaline myopathy.
Sex, Age, Specimen part
View SamplesTranscriptome profiles derived from the site of human disease has led to the identification of genes that contribute to pathogenesis, yet the complex mixture of cell types in these lesions has been an obstacle for defining specific mechanisms. Leprosy provides an outstanding model to study host defense and pathogenesis in a human infectious disease, given its clinical spectrum which interrelates with the host immunologic and pathologic responses. Here, we investigated gene expression profiles derived from skin lesions for each clinical subtype of leprosy, analyzing gene co-expression modules by cell type deconvolution. In lesions from tuberculoid leprosy patients, those with the self-limited form of the disease, dendritic cells were linked with MMP12 as part of a tissue remodeling network that contributes to granuloma formation. In lesions from lepromatous leprosy patients, those with disseminated disease, macrophages were linked with a gene network that programs phagocytosis. In erythema nodosum leprosum, neutrophil and endothelial cell gene networks were identified as part of the vasculitis that results in tissue injury. The present integrated computational approach provides a systems approach towards identifying cell-defined functional networks that contribute to host defense and immunopathology at the site of human infectious disease.
Cell-type deconvolution with immune pathways identifies gene networks of host defense and immunopathology in leprosy.
Specimen part, Disease
View SamplesBy investigating the germinal center (GC) formation in STAT6ko/WT bone marrow-mixed chimera we found that GC formation in type 2 immune responses is dependent on B cell intrinsic expression of IL-4/IL-13-induced genes. We therefore used microarrays to find Stat6 dependent genes that are important for germinal center formation and/or organization after infection with the nematode Nippostrongylus brasiliensis (N. brasiliensis).
B-cell-intrinsic STAT6 signaling controls germinal center formation.
Specimen part
View SamplesImmunity to malaria can be acquired through natural exposure to Plasmodium falciparum (Pf), but only after years of repeated infections. Typically, this immunity is acquired by adolescence and confers protection against disease, but not Pf infection per se. Efforts to understand the mechanisms of this immunity are integral to the development of a vaccine that would mimic the induction of adult immunity in children. The current study applies transcriptomic analyses to a cohort from the rural village of Kalifabougou, Mali, where Pf transmission is intense and seasonal. Signatures that correlate with protection from malaria may yield new hypotheses regarding the biological mechanisms through which malaria immunity is induced by natural Pf infection. The resulting datasets will be of considerable value in the urgent worldwide effort to develop a malaria vaccine that could prevent more than a million deaths annually. Overall design: 108 samples; paired pre- and post-challenge for 54 individuals 198 samples; paired pre- and post-challenge for 99 individuals
Transcriptomic evidence for modulation of host inflammatory responses during febrile Plasmodium falciparum malaria.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesThe Polycomb group (PcG) gene products mediate heritable silencing of developmental regulators in metazoans, participating in one of two distinct multimeric protein complexes, the Polycomb repressive complexes-1 (PRC1) and -2 (PRC2). PRC2 catalyses trimethylation of histone H3 at lysine 27 (H3K27) which in turn is thought to provide a recruitment site for PRC1. Recent studies demonstrate that mono-ubiquitylation of histone H2A at lysine 119 is important in PcG mediated silencing with the core PRC1 component Ring1A/B functioning as the E3 ligase8. PRC2 has been shown to share target genes with the core transcription network to maintain embryonic stem (ES) cells including Oct4 and Nanog. Here we identify an essential role for PRC1 in repressing developmental regulators in ES cells, and thereby in maintaining ES cell pluripotency. A significant proportion of the PRC1 target genes are also repressed by Oct4. We demonstrate that engagement of PRC1 and PRC2 at target genes is Oct4-dependent and moreover that Ring1B interacts with Oct4. Collectively these results show that PcG complexes are instrumental in Oct4-dependent repression required to maintain pluripotency of ES cells. This study provides a first functional link between a core ES cell regulator and global epigenetic regulation of the genome.
Polycomb group proteins Ring1A/B are functionally linked to the core transcriptional regulatory circuitry to maintain ES cell identity.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesThe Polycomb group (PcG) gene products mediate heritable silencing of developmental regulators in metazoans, participating in one of two distinct multimeric protein complexes, the Polycomb repressive complexes-1 (PRC1) and -2 (PRC2)1-5. PRC2 catalyses trimethylation of histone H3 at lysine 27 (H3K27) which in turn is thought to provide a recruitment site for PRC13-7. Recent studies demonstrate that mono-ubiquitylation of histone H2A at lysine 119 is important in PcG mediated silencing with the core PRC1 component Ring1A/B functioning as the E3 ligase8. PRC2 has been shown to share target genes with the core transcription network to maintain embryonic stem (ES) cells including Oct4 and Nanog9. Here we identify an essential role for PRC1 in repressing developmental regulators in ES cells, and thereby in maintaining ES cell pluripotency. A significant proportion of the PRC1 target genes are also repressed by Oct4. We demonstrate that engagement of PRC1 and PRC2 at target genes is Oct4-dependent and moreover that Ring1B interacts with Oct4. Collectively these results show that PcG complexes are instrumental in Oct4-dependent repression required to maintain pluripotency of ES cells. This study provides a first functional link between a core ES cell regulator and global epigenetic regulation of the genome.
Polycomb group proteins Ring1A/B are functionally linked to the core transcriptional regulatory circuitry to maintain ES cell identity.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesThe Polycomb group (PcG) gene products mediate heritable silencing of developmental regulators in metazoans, participating in one of two distinct multimeric protein complexes, the Polycomb repressive complexes-1 (PRC1) and -2 (PRC2)1-5. PRC2 catalyses trimethylation of histone H3 at lysine 27 (H3K27) which in turn is thought to provide a recruitment site for PRC13-7. Recent studies demonstrate that mono-ubiquitylation of histone H2A at lysine 119 is important in PcG mediated silencing with the core PRC1 component Ring1A/B functioning as the E3 ligase8. PRC2 has been shown to share target genes with the core transcription network to maintain embryonic stem (ES) cells including Oct4 and Nanog9. Here we identify an essential role for PRC1 in repressing developmental regulators in ES cells, and thereby in maintaining ES cell pluripotency. A significant proportion of the PRC1 target genes are also repressed by Oct4. We demonstrate that engagement of PRC1 and PRC2 at target genes is Oct4-dependent and moreover that Ring1B interacts with Oct4. Collectively these results show that PcG complexes are instrumental in Oct4-dependent repression required to maintain pluripotency of ES cells. This study provides a first functional link between a core ES cell regulator and global epigenetic regulation of the genome.
Polycomb group proteins Ring1A/B are functionally linked to the core transcriptional regulatory circuitry to maintain ES cell identity.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesInvasion of cytotrophoblasts into uterine tissues is essential for placental development. To identify molecules regulating trophoblast invasion, mRNA signatures of purified villous (CTB, poor invasiveness) and extravillous (EVT, high invasiveness) trophoblasts isolated from first trimester human placentae and villous explant cultures, respectively, were compared using GeneChip analyses yielding 991 invasion/migration related transcripts. Several genes involved in physiological and pathologic cell invasion, including ADAM-12,-19,-28 as well as Spondin-2, were upregulated in EVT. Pathway prediction analyses identified several functional modules associated with either the invasive or the non-invasive trophoblast phenotype. One of the genes which were downregulated in the invasive mRNA pool, heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), was selected for functional analyses. Real-time PCR analyses, Western blottting, and immunofluorescene of first trimester placentae and differentiating villous explant cultures demonstrated downregulation of HO-1 in invasive EVT as compared to CTB. Modulation of HO-1 expression in loss-of as well as gain-of function cell models (BeWo and HTR8/SVneo, respectively) demonstrated an inverse relationship of HO-1 expression with trophoblast migration in transwell and wound healing assays. Importantly, HO-1 expression led to an increase in protein levels and activity of the nuclear hormone receptor PPARgamma. Pharmacological inhibition of PPARgamma abrogated the inhibitory effects of HO-1 on trophoblast migration. Collectively, our results demonstrate that gene expression profiling of EVT and CTB can be used to unravel novel regulators of cell invasion. Accordingly, we identify heme oxygenase-1 as a negative regulator of trophoblast motility acting via upregulation of PPARgamma.
Identification of novel trophoblast invasion-related genes: heme oxygenase-1 controls motility via peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma.
No sample metadata fields
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